NES Review of National Biodiversity Strategy

The National Environment Service (NES) will seek views from the public, government agencies and non-governmental organisations on the update of the Cook Islands National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).

The original NBSAP was developed in 2002 under the leadership of Gerald McCormack and is now over two decades old, and environmental challenges have evolved over the years, necessitating an upgrade of the plan to reflect current community needs and aspirations.

Karen Silk, NBSAP project coordinator at the NES, told Cook Islands News the idea was to effectively respond to new challenges that have emerged over the years since the original programme was launched.

“We have looked at the current NBSAP which is 20 years old so we are updating it because some key areas have changed in 20 years so we are looking at how to address those challenges from the community’s perspective as well as the government’s perspective,” Silk said.

“We will be holding some community workshops so the public can give their views and opinions on how to protect biodiversity.”

Silke called on the public to get involved in preventing biodiversity loss, which she believes is everyone’s responsibility.

“Biodiversity really is everyone’s responsibility, so we strongly encourage everyone to attend these workshops because it is so important to have their views heard and we want to hear their perspectives on how to tackle biodiversity loss and protect our environment and species,” she said.

“Because we have some endemic species that are unique to the Cook Islands and Rarotonga, we want to protect these species for future generations and the whole community and society should have their views heard so that we can work together to prevent biodiversity loss.”

As part of the preparatory activities for this review, NES successfully held two workshops earlier this month, bringing together key stakeholders, including conservation practitioners, policymakers, and representatives from government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Discussions centred on aligning updated NBSAPs with national policies and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), identifying priority targets and establishing a dedicated working group to guide and oversee the revision process.